I recently joined the PMGA (Pendleton Memorial Golf Association) because it's currently the only way for civilians to access this course. (The base visitor's center was damaged in early 2023 storms, m... Continue »

I recently joined the PMGA (Pendleton Memorial Golf Association) because it's currently the only way for civilians to access this course. (The base visitor's center was damaged in early 2023 storms, making it more difficult/impossible to get a pass.) Played today in a small PMGA Shamble event, teeing off in the last group around 9:00. Slow pace; almost five hours to finish. Partly cloudy skies, cool air, and the wind picked up a little bit on our back nine. We started on 10 today.

Sad to say conditions are mediocre. Many greens have small bare spots and thin spots as well as splotchy appearance with different colors of grass. They roll around medium speed with some bouncy putts. They were pretty soft and full shots stopped quickly. Fairways have mostly good coverage of semi-dormant grass, providing decent lies. The 12th fairway was very thin, however. Rough was a mix of different grasses and some bare spots. White tee boxes were decent. I didn't play from any bunkers but my playing partners did and they all seemed quite nice. Overall, it's playable but wintry and the greens are disappointing compared to all my previous visits here. (I haven't played here since Spring 2022, IIRC.)

Heard that all prices are increasing five percent next month. Still a good value, but hopefully conditions return more to what I expect from this course.

Got a chance to play for fathers Day. Course is in OK shape. Fairways are great, rough is about normal, sand is good with plenty of it and semi firm. Greens are better than last time but still a li... Continue »

Got a chance to play for fathers Day. Course is in OK shape. Fairways are great, rough is about normal, sand is good with plenty of it and semi firm. Greens are better than last time but still a little rough. Hoping they can save these surfaces but they have been inconsistent and bumpy the last couple time I have played. Usually they are the best part of the course but not recently. Great customer service and always well worth the fee.

Got out at the base on Sunday the 5th. Course is in way better shape after the rains, only some water still on the 12th hole but everywhere else was good and dry. Much greener and the fairways were ... Continue »

Got out at the base on Sunday the 5th. Course is in way better shape after the rains, only some water still on the 12th hole but everywhere else was good and dry. Much greener and the fairways were in much better shape than a few months ago. Greens are still a little bumpy but were in great shape and fast. This course is well worth the money and is one of my favorites in all of north county. $49 bucks to walk on a Sunday. Wind comes into play, especially in the afternoon and with the greens, plenty of challenge even with it being open.

Played here in September with friends who had a pass. Civilians can play here but you need to buy a 60 day gate pass, which isn't worth it to just play once. The experience is not anything to write ... Continue »

Played here in September with friends who had a pass. Civilians can play here but you need to buy a 60 day gate pass, which isn't worth it to just play once. The experience is not anything to write about. It's an OK course with some interesting holes. There are several holes with large elevation change. Fairways are spotty and the grass catches balls from rolling very far. It's an older designed course with smallish greens. For the money, I much prefer playing at Arrowood or Oceanside muni which are better values and closer to wherever you are coming from.

My 60-day base access pass is about to expire so I decided to get back out here before it did. Booked a single at 7:45 a few days prior. The pro shop's credit card machine was down when I checked in, ... Continue »

My 60-day base access pass is about to expire so I decided to get back out here before it did. Booked a single at 7:45 a few days prior. The pro shop's credit card machine was down when I checked in, but the guy just asked me to come pay at the turn. Then prior to me teeing off, the system was back up, so I was able to pay beforehand. Gorgeous morning. They called four players to the tee for my group but only three showed up. One rider, two walkers including me. We had short waits on nearly all tee shots and approaches, but pace was still good at just under four hours.

Conditions are good. The mid-March aeration is completely healed and the greens are running medium-fast, quite smooth and accept full shots well. Fairways have mostly good coverage and provide really nice lies. Rough varied from 2-3 inches in some spots to 3-5 in others. As usual, lots of squirrels around here, including many burrowing animal holes. Blue tee boxes had good coverage but many are lumpy underfoot. All the bunkers I was in were fantastic.

First time I'd played a morning round here for a while. Morning, noon, or twilight, you can't go wrong here in my opinion.

Took a cruise over the weekend and when disembarkation took place at 7:30 a.m. this morning, suddenly found myself with an "extra" day off from work. So I took that opportunity to get a new 60-day gol... Continue »

Took a cruise over the weekend and when disembarkation took place at 7:30 a.m. this morning, suddenly found myself with an "extra" day off from work. So I took that opportunity to get a new 60-day golf access pass at Camp Pendleton. The visitor's center process seems a little different where now you check in, give them some initial information and then they take your phone number and send you to your car to wait. Then they call you and tell you to go directly to a specific window number to complete the process. All told it probably took almost an hour to get my pass. Showed up at the golf course around 12:45 and paid the $30 twilight walking rate and was told to hit the first tee whenever I wanted. Another single was lined up to follow the foursome on the tee, so I joined him. He bailed after 13 holes and I played the rest by myself. Total POP was just under 4 hours on a beautiful but windy afternoon.

Conditions are decent to good. Greens are definitely the highlight. They are smooth, medium-fast and medium firmness. Full shots stopped quickly. Fairways are decent with good coverage but a mix of grasses and some bare spots and imperfections. Rough along the fairways is a little deeper but seems to have lots of squirrel holes. Further off the fairways is mainly bare dirt and more burrowing animal holes. Blue tee boxes were pretty good. Bunkers were pretty good.

Sort of expected the course to be in better condition. It's very playable, but could be more consistent. I also played ridiculously terribly, but still had a great time. Well worth the effort to get the base access pass.

Got a chance to play this gem. Love this course and the price and everything that goes with it. Customer service was great, from check in to the halfway house. Tees were not very level but had good... Continue »

Got a chance to play this gem. Love this course and the price and everything that goes with it. Customer service was great, from check in to the halfway house. Tees were not very level but had good coverage and could always find a flat spot but they will need work soon. Fairways great and rough was not bad but patchy. Sand was great as were the greens , fast and fun pins today. For 30 bucks and the pace, I would play here daily if I could.

Rode the Blues (6865/73.1/132) with John and Rex, who played the Golds. 3H, 20M POP, these retired veterans were both fun to play with and quick! Started brisk since we teed off before 7A, but was nic... Continue »

Rode the Blues (6865/73.1/132) with John and Rex, who played the Golds. 3H, 20M POP, these retired veterans were both fun to play with and quick! Started brisk since we teed off before 7A, but was nice when finishing 18 just after 10A. Fairly calm and clear. Kikuyu tees were improved from my last visit. Decent coverage and most divots were filled in. Fairways had good coverage and were decent to good. Rough had good coverage and could be penal because it's mostly Kikuyu. Sand traps were well maintained with a decent amount of sand. Greens were punched a little more than a week ago, so I did not expect them to be good. They must have used small tines, because they were 95% healed and IMO, very good. Medium fast and pretty smooth. They accepted irons and pitches with little run out. I actually thought they were better than when I played here a month ago. Customer service was excellent from everyone encountered. Kudos to Abby, who got me right out so I could make my later tee time elsewhere. No drink cart today. Basic cart with no GPS. Adequate grass driving range with plenty of stalls. Well stocked pro shop. Definitely recommended.

Got in one more round here before aeration this coming week and my 60-day base access pass expiring later this month. Played here today at 10:36. Paired with two nice guys who rode. I walked with a pu... Continue »

Got in one more round here before aeration this coming week and my 60-day base access pass expiring later this month. Played here today at 10:36. Paired with two nice guys who rode. I walked with a push cart. Started right on time on a busy course. Pace was not good, not bad, just a bit over 4.5 hours on a gorgeous day. Not much wind to start, but then it picked up late in our front nine and we had a pretty good breeze throughout the back nine.

Recent rains have greened the course up since I was here two weeks ago, providing lusher fairways but not enough to have some of the bare spots grow back in. Greens are still good, mostly smooth (although the practice green seemed bumpy and ready for aeration) and about medium speed. They are more soft than firm and accept full shots well. Rough is a mixed bag, lots of clumpy kikuyu that can make things difficult. I was in a fairway bunker that was in great condition and a greenside bunker that was a bit thin. Blue tees are still in need of leveling and too spongy on many boxes.

With my 60-day base access pass likely expiring before I get back out here again, I look forward to my next weekday chance to get a new one!